Former Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev, whose reforms played a major role in freeing the Soviet Union from totalitarianism, defended authoritarian moves by Russian President Vladimir V. Putin as necessary "to prevent the disintegration of the country."

Putin has chosen "to use certain methods … that were even authoritarian to some extent," the Nobel Peace Prize laureate said in a recent interview. "But even though he used those methods sometimes, he continued to have the same goals — the goals of moving toward democracy, toward market economics."

Gorbachev attributed tensions between Washington and Moscow to the "victory complex" of some U.S. leaders, and said the two governments should tone down harsh rhetoric and work together to solve global problems.

Asked what advice he would have for Putin and President Bush, Gorbachev replied:

"First of all, to preserve the climate of trust that emerged during the years of perestroika, when we were able to work together with the United States to discuss the issues and ultimately to end the Cold War. I believe that this trust is now in jeopardy."

Perestroika, as Gorbachev's reform policies of the late 1980s are known, played a major role in the collapse of the Soviet Union and laid the groundwork for U.S.-Russian friendship in the 1990s.

But in the last few years, tensions have grown again. Besides the perceived rollback of democracy in Russia, U.S. dissatisfaction has been fueled by Moscow's alleged use of oil and gas export contracts to make political demands on its neighbors, differences over how to deal with Iran's nuclear program, a dispute over the future of Kosovo and other issues.

Russians have been angered by U.S. plans to install an antimissile system in Eastern Europe. Washington says it is needed to defend Europe and North America, citing the possibility of missile attacks by Iran.

Moscow has expressed fear that the move would be a step toward a global missile-defense system aimed at devaluing Russia's and China's nuclear deterrents, and that the system could be modified for offensive missiles that would be close to Russia's border.

Tensions have been further stoked by the radiation poisoning in London last year of Alexander Litvinenko, a former KGB agent turned fierce Kremlin critic. In a written statement prepared shortly before his death, Litvinenko accused Putin of ordering his killing, a charge the Kremlin has dismissed as "nonsense."

The widespread perception in the United States is that the deterioration of U.S.-Russian ties has been caused by the Kremlin's actions. But Gorbachev said much of the blame should go to a "victory complex," which he described as a view expressed by some top U.S. officials that pressure exerted by former President Reagan brought about defeat of the Soviet Union in the Cold War. He included Vice President Dick Cheney among this group.

"I believe that this victory complex is very dangerous," Gorbachev said. "The United States has really not achieved anything alone. I believe that only when the United States worked with others was it able to achieve anything. Where they acted alone, the result was a real mess."

Gorbachev said he was encouraged, however, by the atmosphere of this month's informal Bush-Putin summit in Kennebunkport, Maine.

"The more difficult the situation is, the more dialogue there should be, so I am pleased that it seems to be beginning to change," he said. "It seems now that perhaps with the moderating help of President Bush the father, the senior President Bush, something is beginning to happen and something useful is resulting."

Gorbachev expressed hope that the recent summit would lead to a compromise on the antimissile system, ease Russia's concerns and bring international cooperation on such matters.

Another problem aggravating U.S.-Russian relations, Gorbachev said, is that Western journalists, analysts and politicians often fail to acknowledge the depth of Russia's problems in the 1990s, under then-President Boris N. Yeltsin, and the practical justifications for some of the non-democratic methods used by Putin to reestablish the authority of the Russian state after he became president on the last day of 1999.

In the late 1990s, "the country was really in dire straits," Gorbachev said.

"People were living in poverty and there was chaos in the country…. So in this situation Putin was faced with the question of what kind of methods to use in order to prevent the disintegration of the country."

Gorbachev did not spell out what sort of authoritarian steps he believed Putin had taken. But Putin has been criticized by democracy advocates for establishing state control over all nationwide television networks, ending the direct election of governors and establishing a pliable parliament with election rules that make it difficult for opposition forces to win seats.

Although Gorbachev typically defends Putin in public comments, at the same time he is the key political backer and an important financial supporter of the country's most fiercely independent newspaper, Novaya Gazeta, which frequently carries reporting and commentary sharply critical of Putin. Copies of the newspaper are prominently displayed in the lobby of the Gorbachev Foundation, which studies social, economic and political issues.


 

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Russia's Putin: More military, more spies...

Newsmax reported on July 25, 2007:

President Vladimir Putin vowed Wednesday to strengthen Russia's military capability and step up spying abroad in response to U.S. plans to build missile defense sites and deploy troops in Eastern Europe.

"The situation in the world and internal political interests require the Foreign Intelligence Service to permanently increase its capabilities, primarily in the field of information and analytical support for the country's leadership," Putin said at a meeting with senior military and security officers in remarks that were posted on the Kremlin's Web site.

The Foreign Intelligence Service is a successor agency to the KGB.

Putin did not identify specific nations as targets, but officials in the United States and Britain have said recently that Moscow has intensified its spying in those countries.

Putin said U.S. plans to station troops in Eastern Europe and Washington's intention to base missile defense sites in Poland and the Czech Republic pose security challenges for Russia. Washington says the facilities are necessary to protect the U.S. and Europe from missiles launched by Iran or other rogue states.

Putin has proposed that the U.S. use a Soviet-built radar base in Azerbaijan for missile defense. U.S. officials have questioned whether the facility is technically compatible with American systems.

On Wednesday, Putin said Washington was stonewalling. "Alternative ways of protection from hypothetical missile threats which we proposed have been left unanswered," he said.

"All-round strengthening of our military forces is one of our indisputable priorities," Putin said, promising to continue equipping the military with new weapons.

Putin also criticized the United States and other NATO members for failing to ratify an amended version of the 1990 Conventional Forces in Europe (CFE) treaty, which limits the deployment of tanks, aircraft and other heavy non-nuclear weapons around the continent.

Earlier this month, Putin suspended Russia's participation in the treaty and threatened to withdraw from it completely if NATO nations do not ratify its amended version, which was signed in 1999, to reflect changes since the 1991 Soviet collapse.

NATO members have refused to do that until Russia withdraws its troops from the former Soviet republics of Moldova and Georgia.

Putin said the old version of the CFE treaty counted arsenals of former Soviet satellites and republics which are now NATO members as part of the Soviet bloc. In particular, it counted weapons in the ex-Soviet Baltic nations of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania as part of what was the Soviet Baltic Military District.

"Maybe I should appoint one of you as its commander?" Putin said wryly.

Russia's relations with the United States and other Western nations have grown increasingly acrimonious amid Western concerns that Russia is edging away from democracy and Kremlin suspicions about the West's intentions.

 

"There are evil powers, My child, being set up to enslave your world! I have begged you, I have asked you through countless years to pray much for the conversion of Our adversaries. One nation, Russia, My children, shall be your scourge. As they shall go across the world, ravenous in appetite, destruction as their means for enslaving the world!" - Our Lady of the Roses, September 13, 1975

RUSE
Shortly after Veronica finished reading the articles in the daily newspaper pertaining to the "demise" of communism in the Soviet Union, and the subsequent birth of the new Commonwealth of Independent States, Our Lady appeared in what Veronica perceived as a message expressed in desperation:
     "Do not be deceived. Their father is the father of all liars: satan. Their master plan is in motion. Pray for the light. Minds are clouded. I repeat: it is a ruse. Wake up America or you will suffer much." - Our Lady, December 18, 1991

"FOR IT IS THEIR PLAN TO SUBDUE YOU, ONCE THEY GET THE BILLIONS THAT THEY NEED IN AID"
"As I counseled you all in the past, I said to you as quote: 'This is a ruse,' I repeat again. This is the visit to your country, the once great and Illustrious United States of the world, the nation, the United States of America, the illustrious country that now is leading into a path of darkness. This has been allowed because of the dire straits of your nation. The morality has now been cast aside. Darkness has fallen upon mankind....
     "I tell you now, and I will not tell you again. This is the last time you will receive this counsel.
     "As in the past Lenin, as in the past Stalin, and Khrushchev; and many others had tried to deceive the United States. They all felt that by trying to ensnare you with delusions of casting aside their communistic aspirations, that they had become as you, a free nation for all.
     "I assure you, My children, there is no freedom in Russia. It is all a delusion.
     "They seek the monies of the world from the nations of the world. And why do you not learn a lesson? It happened in the time of Lenin; it happened in the time of Stalin. And there you are all on the same road, ready to give billions of monies that should be given to those of your nation and the free nations of the world.
     "Do not be deceived, My children, Russia is not free. It is a cosmetic act to delude you. Lenin and Stalin used the same tactics, My children. Why do you not learn from your errors?"
Veronica - Our Lady now, Our Lady is crying. Now She is looking up and She says:
Our Lady - "My tears fall on you, My children. And I must give you also the conclusion to what I have spoken to you of. Lenin and Stalin are not with Us. They were cast off to meet with their god, the prince of darkness, satan.
     "It behooves Me to say, and it tears My heart in anguish, that they did not seek to be saved. For those who approach them, as they will approach you in your nation and try to convince you that their way of life without the Eternal Father was a way that should be adopted by all - no, My children!
"I repeat again, because this will be my last discourse to the world on this subject: This man, these two men are of the same creed, color, spirituality - or should I say, My children, lack of spirituality. They have a father who is the father of all liars, so what does it make them, My children - Lenin, Stalin, Khrushchev, Yeltsin, Gorbachev?
     "That is the same old plan, My children, and those leaders of your nation are as blind as they were in the past. I tell you for your own good, My children of the United States of America, that once was a nation under God and indivisible, that you will fall! If you do not come out of your slumber now, you will fall!
     "For it is their plan to subdue you, once they get the billions that they need in aid, to bring up the economy and buy more armaments. They have not disposed of their armaments, My child and My children. They store them in other nations. They have the same goals as their forefathers." - Our Lady, June 18, 1992

BESIEGE THE POPE
"Every single soul upon earth that hears My voice this evening has an obligation, for the sanctification of their own souls and the souls of those they love, to listen to Me and follow the direction. I wish that all who hear My words this evening will go forward and besiege, if necessary, the Holy Father and the bishops with a request for this consecration of Russia. We do not mean the world, My children, We mean Russia!" - Jesus, June 17, 1989

CONSECRATE RUSSIA, NOT THE WORLD
"When I came to Fatima many years ago, I knew that communism would go throughout the world destroying many nations and attacking My Son's Church. Therefore, I made a promise that if the Pope, the Pope of those days and the Pope today, would unite with all the bishops of the world, all together on one day--not the world--but the bishops and the Pope will unite and pray for the consecration of Russia. I do not mean the world, My children; I mean Russia--Russia, the scourge of mankind. You will pray for Russia. One day must be allotted in which Pope John Paul II and, also, all the bishops of the world must unite on one day, I repeat, and pray for Russia; or Russia will continue to be the scourge from God. Russia will continue to go throughout the world annihilating people and places and countries." - Our Lady, October 2, 1987

IN UNISON WITH ALL THE BISHOPS
"I repeat from My Mother Her words to the world some time ago--and I believe, My child, you have been a voice-box before and a means for Heaven to transport this message to the world--that is, that the Holy Father in Rome, in unison with all of the bishops of the world, must consecrate Russia to the Immaculate Heart of My Mother." - Jesus, March 18, 1989

RED HORSE
"The red horse is war! And war is in the balance next, My child. And what can you do about this? This is My direction from Heaven—and We hope, My children, that you will get this out to the world—unless the bishops and the Holy Father in unity with all the bishops of the world—unless they consecrate Russia to My Mother's Immaculate Heart, the world will be doomed! Because Russia will continue to spread her errors throughout the world, rising up wars and carnage and pestilence and famine." - Jesus, June 17, 1989

WORLD  WAR  III  
Veronica -  . . . Our Lady now is looking down sadly. And I see She's pointing now to what looks like a map. Oh, my!
     Now as I am watching—it's a map of... oh, I can see Jerusalem, and Egypt, Arabia, French Morocco, Africa. Oh, my goodness! There seems to be a very dense darkness now settling upon those countries. Oh, my!
     And Our Lady is saying:
Our Lady - "The start of the Third World War, My child." -- March 29, 1975  

Heaven’s Personal Protection Packet . . .
Our Lady tells us to be protected from all evil, we must wear the following sacramentals around our necks: a Rosary, a crucifix, the St. Benedict medal, Our Lady of the Roses medal, the Miraculous Medal, and the scapular. We have all of these sacramentals in a packet we call "Heaven's Personal Protection Packet." This packet is available for a donation of $5.00 plus $3.00 shipping and handling. Send $8.00 to TLD Ministries, P.O. Box 40, Lowell, MI 49331. Item # P5  (Order Form)

    Our Lady of the Roses, Mary Help of Mothers promises to help protect our children. On September 13, 1977, She said, "He has an army of ogres wandering now throughout your country and all of the countries of the world. They are in possession of great power; so wear your sacramentals, and protect your children and your households. Learn the use every day of holy water throughout your household. Insist even with obstructions, insist that your children always wear a sacramental. One day they will understand that they will repel the demons."
    On February 1, 1974, Our Lady said, "My children, know the value of these sacramentals. Guard your children well. You must awaken to the knowledge that you will not be protected without the sacramentals. Guard your children's souls. They must be surrounded with an aura of purity. Remove them if necessary from the sources of contamination, be it your schools or even false pastors."
    This Heaven’s Personal Protection Packet is available for a donation of $5.00 plus $3.00 shipping and handling. Send $8.00 to TLD Ministries, P.O. Box 40, Lowell, MI 49331. You may use your MasterCard, VISA, or American Express and call 1-616-698-6448.  Item # P5 (Order Form)